I let out quiet huff of frustration. “I’m not sure. If she is behind this, she’d want to keep him hidden. Which means he’s probably not in Hireath—why risk the Council finding him? She’d keep him somewhere close, though. Within reach for whatever she’s planning.”
“We can checkZane and the Fallen Leadersto see if it’s updated with any information pertaining to Noc’s capture.” Kost ran a stiff hand through his hair and then nodded. “It likely will not have specifics—that’s not how the magic works—but it may give us an idea of where to go.”
“And we can send out scouts.” Oz said. “We’ll be able to cover more ground quickly with our numbers.”
“Cruor, then.” Flexing my foot, I winced at the sharp pain shooting up my calf. Not enough to keep me from walking, but enough to slow me down. Standing, I ignored the flare of heat in my ankle.
Channeling power to my hand, I opened the beast realm and summoned the Nix Ikari. She returned mostly healed with just a slight pink tinge to her snowy fur. With a purr, she knocked her head into my arm.
“I’m going to call you Reine.” My eyes trailed the length of her lithe body. I’d likely have to sit in Oz’s lap, but we’d make do. It would only be for a moment, and I’d be sure to shower her with lots of love and handfuls of beast treats when this was all over.
“What now?” Oz eyed Reine with a furrowing brow.
“We climb on her back.” I felt myself smile.Zane and the Fallen Leaderswould have answers. This was all going to work out. It had to.
Standing before her, I cupped her maw in my hands and nuzzled her head. “Hey, sweet girl. Can you take us home, please?” She huffed into my chest, but didn’t retreat when Oz and Kost approached her. I gave them a nod, and Oz hoisted himself onto her back first. Kost sidled in behind him. With one last loving pet down her muzzle, I moved to her side and reached for Oz’s hand. He pulled me up, and I settled into his lap.
“You all set?” Oz asked, tightening his thighs against Reine’s sides. She let out a disgruntled hiss.
I rubbed my hands along her neck. “Yes. Okay, Reine, whenever you’re ready. Take us to Cruor.”
Violet light bled from her spots and stretched before us like a mirage. The surroundings of Glacial Springs faded in an instant. A sudden pressure weighed down my limbs, and I struggled to breathe. Fingers tingling, I gripped my beast tighter for support. A dull ringing started in my ears, and just as I thought I would faint, Reine’s spots glowed fiercely again. Light stretched before us, and then suddenly we were home. Cruor. My heart gave a hopeful thud, and I hugged my newly tamed beast tight.
Noc was within reach.
Twenty-Five
Noc
A sickening rip broke through the silence in my brain as the spider tore sticky webs away from my head. Still wrapped tightly in a cocoon, my arms and legs were immobilized. I tried in vain to summon my shadows. To attack her or cut away at the cocoon. But it was as if the creature’s web canceled out my powers, and nothing happened. She surveyed me with beady eyes. What did she want? Where had she taken me? A far-off grating howl rolled through the mouth of her cave, and she tossed a cautious look toward the opening.
My mind reeled. I knew that sound. Those bone-scraping calls were a constant backdrop in my world. Somewhere in Kitska Forest, then. How we’d managed to travel such a great distance in so little time baffled me. At least I hoped it hadn’t been long. A dull ache still simmered from the impact of my head against that boulder, but I was alive and familiar with my surroundings. All I needed was to slip into the shadows. Race through the wretched woods to Cruor and find a way to get word to Leena.
Dank, wet, and reeking of dirt, the small cavern was a jagged maw full of stalagmites and stalactites. The beast clung to the ceiling and moved about them on dew-flecked threads. Muted-red lichen glowed faintly along portions of the rocky floor. She’d strung me up relatively close to the entrance, and I was just able to crane my neck enough to get a glimpse of the endless dark expanse behind me. A wheezing current skated through the air and churned the milky fog along the ground. Magic. Dark and alluring and damning. It surged around me and beckoned from somewhere deep in the cavern.
Devil’s Hollow. A burial ground for dark mages who had sought to take down the Five—Nepheste, Silvis, Oslo, Tyrus, and Yuna—long ago. Their magic was so corrupt, so foul, that even in death it lingered in this gods-damned cave, pulsing around me. Red tendrils bloomed in my peripheral vision as though they’d finally been given the nourishment needed to grow. To spread like a weed and wrangle conscious thought from my mind.
The fog beneath me turned into a bloody mist, and Bowen appeared. The world blurred. Then steadied again. A hidden heartbeat pulsed from somewhere deep in the cavern. If I didn’t lose my body to the putrid magic of this cave, my mind would surely go.
Bowen sighed. “You had the chance to end this. Now, look at you.”
“Get out of my head.” My voice was more of a croak. The spider turned, her legs scampering against stone in a hair-raising scuffle. She lowered herself on a thick thread from her spinner and looked around. Bowen was invisible to her. It was no surprise the beast couldn’t see him. If anything, it only proved how far I’d fallen to the oath. Or how strong the cave’s magic was. It was suffocating. Endless. A constant weight pressing against my consciousness.
The ache in my head intensified. After several moments, the beast narrowed her eyes and ran sticky hands over my face. Once she deemed I was still thoroughly caught, she retreated up into the dark network of the ceiling and continued decorating the stalactites with webs.
The ghost of Bowen arched a careful brow. “Cozy.”
Not real. Not real. Not real.The mantra did nothing to lessen the oppressive magic.
A swirling wind churned the mist beside him, and Amira appeared. “Oh, Aleksander. How did you end up here?”
“Gods.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I counted three breaths before opening them again. Deep, foreign laughs rumbled from the back of the cave, each one more grating and damning than the last. The oath was called to the dark mages’ spirits. Pulling power from their cursed existence. The cave walls closed in around me.
Amira shook her head. “Did you really think that would work?”
“One can only hope.”
Hurt flickered through her golden irises. “I’m sorry it pains you to see us.”
